


The Quarterback and Her Cheerleader

by rochke11



Series: We've Lived A Thousand Lives (one-shot series) [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, American Football, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 16:36:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3985174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rochke11/pseuds/rochke11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa is the quarterback and start of Polis High School's football team and Clarke is co-captain of the cheerleading team.  They've known each other since freshman year, but have hardly ever spoken.  Now, it's senior year and they start speaking - and more.  One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quarterback and Her Cheerleader

It was the first game of the season and all of Polis High School was in the stands along with parents, alumni and pretty much all of the Town of Polis. It was a small town and on Friday nights, the biggest event was the football game. And this year more than most, because this year the team was featuring their new starting quarterback, Lexa Woods.  
Lexa had joined the team as a freshman, because due to Title IX and the fact that Polis High did not have a girl’s team, any girl was allowed to try out for the boys team. Raised a tomboy, Lexa had tried out freshman year and made the JV team. She’d worked her way through the ranks, and finally now as a senior, she was the starting quarterback.  
Lexa was ready for the game. She knew she’d hear taunts from her opponents, but she also knew that she was good. Wicked good. And she knew that she not only had the support of her coach, but also her teammates and the majority of the fans in the stands. Very few Polis parents opposed her being on the team, and most of them had stopped complaining after she first made varsity last year and Coaches Gustus and Kane threatened to deny them entry to games if they continued to oppose their decision.  
As Coach Kane gave them their pump up speech before the big game Lexa couldn’t help but drift her sight to the cheerleaders who were pumping up the crowd. The co-captains of the cheer squad were leading the cheers. Lexa knew Octavia Blake fairly well. Her brother Bellamy had been captain of the football team his senior year, back when both Octavia and Lexa had been freshman. Octavia was also dating one of their current wide receivers, fellow senior Lincoln Washington. Because of that, she often hung out to watch the football practices after her own had ended. On several occasions she had also been known to bring her best friend and cheer co-captain Clarke Griffin.  
To say that Lexa had a crush on Clarke Griffin would have been an understatement. On the first day of their freshman year, John Murphy had called Lexa a dyke during study hall and teased her for trying out for the football team. Being freshmen and many of them coming from different middle schools, nobody had wanted to stand up to the obvious bully for Lexa. Nobody, that is, except for Clarke Griffin. The girl had immediately called Murphy out on being a dick, and being one of those girls who was just innately popular the rest of the class had immediately backed her up. Being stubborn and fiercely independent, however, Lexa had gotten mad at Clarke, claiming she didn’t need help from some “blonde bimbo.” And despite having several classes over the next four years together, the two had not spoken since.  
Just because they hadn’t spoken though, that didn’t mean that Lexa hadn’t kept up with Clarke in other ways. She watched the way she became the most popular girl in school and listened to the stories her teammates told that involved Clarke. Wells, one of the team’s safeties, was childhood friends with Clarke and whenever they talked about vacations or holidays, Wells always talked about how his family spent them with the Griffins. Lexa admired Clarke and the way that she seemingly had it all. The blonde was not only gorgeous and popular, but also immensely talented when it came to art and intelligent when it came to the sciences.  
“So let’s get out there and kick some Arker ass!” Coach Gustus exclaimed, pulling Lexa’s gaze and thoughts away from the blonde cheerleader and back to her teammates’ cheering.  
Before she knew it, her helmet was on and the Polis Grounders were on the attack. Their first play began and Monty Green hiked the ball to Lexa. She then threw the ball to receiver Finn Collins. The game went quickly, but stressfully. The game was tied and they had time for one more play. Lexa knew how badly it would look if they lost their first game, regardless of the fact that the Arkers were of equal skill to them.  
They had seconds left and Lexa had the ball. She was only ten yards from the end zone and she saw a narrow area through which she was pretty sure she could run through and score. She was ready to run, when she saw to her left Finn Collins, wide open. She had two options, both likely opportunities for scoring. Instead of running herself and risking getting tackled, however, she passed the ball to Finn who ran for it and caught it in the end zone right as the buzzer sounded. They won.  
The stands erupted in cheers in the way only a small town could get invested in the outcome of a high school sport. Lexa fist bumped the air and several of her teammates congratulated her while the rest of her team crowded Finn, cheering him on. The cheerleaders went wild, and the one that always caught Lexa’s eye dropped her pompoms and sprinted towards them. For a moment Lexa imagined the girl running to her, but she knew better than that. She knew that Clarke was running to Finn. She jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist before removing his helmet and kissing him. They’d only started dating at the end of the summer after Finn broke up with his now ex-girlfriend, Raven Reyes who was a freshman in college, but they were already frontrunners for Homecoming King and Queen.  
They cheered as a team and everyone got changed in the locker rooms before returning to the field to meet up with family before heading off to some party. Lexa was hauling her sports bag over shoulder while she was turning the corner to exit the locker room when she slammed in to someone.  
“Sorry!” she exclaimed as she regained her footing before looking to see who she had body slammed. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the blonde. “I did not see you there,” she stammered. She hoped that her face wasn’t as red as it felt and that Clarke couldn’t hear her heart pounding through her chest.  
“No worries,” the girl responded, brushing a piece blonde curl behind ear. Lexa moved to get by Clarke, but instead of letting her through, Clarke stopped her with a hand on the brunette’s shoulder. “You played really well today Lexa,” she smiled.  
Lexa tried not to think about how she could listen to Clarke say her name on repeat for hours. “Thanks,” she responded tersely.  
Clarke removed her hand and awkwardly crossed her arms, not knowing what to do with them. Before Lexa could continue walking, however, she continued to speak, “My mom is out of town for the weekend, so I’m hosting a party at my house. You should come.”  
Lexa could have sworn Clarke looked hopeful, but the brunette also knew she was likely reading too much in to the situation. Surely Clarke was simply extending the invitation by obligation. “I don’t party,” Lexa responded simply. She didn’t, it was true. She always felt out of place at parties. This wasn’t the first time she was invited to a party for the popular kids, but she never felt comfortable with the popular kids. She was always the awkward girl who didn’t fit in with any clique. She was friends with her team, who were all popular guys, but she was still out of place with them.  
“I know, but it’s senior year and you don’t have to drink if that’s what it is,” Clarke started to ramble, “And you can bring Anya too, if you’d like. Invite whoever you want.”  
Lexa didn’t realize that Clarke even knew she was friends with Anya. Sure, Anya was Lexa’s only real friend, but as far as she knew Clarke knew nothing about her. “It was a long game, I’m kind of tired,” Lexa’s response was weak and she wasn’t sure why she was saying no, but she was.  
“Oh, okay.” Lexa could have sworn Clarke looked disappointed, but surely that couldn’t have been the case. The blonde’s eyes quickly darted to Lexa’s bag and the side pocket exposing her phone. She quickly grabbed it, typed something and put it back where she found it. “Well if you change your mind, you have my number now. Text me and I’ll send you the details.”  
“Uhm, okay,” Lexa’s response was a confused one.  
Clarke smiled and turned to walk away, surely in search of her boyfriend, “I hope to see you later.” She briefly touched Lexa’s shoulder again before walking off.  
Lexa felt as if her arm was on fire where Clarke had touched her. She exhaled deeply after Clarke was gone, not realizing she’d been holding her breath. Without Clarke there, she could have imagined the entire interaction, but a quick look on her phone forced her to realize it had happened, as right on her screen was “Clarke :)”’s phone number.  
After finding her dad and listening to him tell her how great she played, but how she could have scored herself at the end, Lexa left her gym bag with him and went in search of Anya. Even after four years of attending Lexa’s games, Anya still didn’t understand football and genuinely disliked the sports. Despite that fact, however, she still went to each of Lexa’s teams and cheered when everyone else did.  
As soon as Lexa told her best friend what had happened outside the locker room with Clarke, Anya had obviously insisted that they attend the party. Not only was Anya more of a partier than Lexa, but she was also convinced that Clarke was secretly in to girls. A conviction that came as a result of watching the blonde play spin the bottle at one of the few parties Anya had actually been invited to.

 

* * *

 

In the end, Lexa had ended up texting Clarke who had responded happily the address of where they should go and that they should park one street over. Not wanting to get there too early, Anya and Clarke arrived just before midnight. The party was in full swing and the usual popular kids were in attendance.  
Clarke found them before they could find her. She was happily drunk and brought them to the keg where she filled them each a cup of beer.  
“I’m glad you could come!” she exclaimed, talking just slightly too loudly. She looked directly at Lexa before switching her gaze to Anya as if just realizing the girl was there, “Both of you,” she added.  
The party only lasted half and hour longer, but they spent that entire thirty minutes talking to Clarke and Octavia who found her way over halfway through the conversation, wearing only a bra and shorts.  
“I was up in Clarke’s room with Lincoln and told him I was going to find us some whipped cream, but apparently Abby Griffin doesn’t approve of whipped cream,” Octavia said, as if that explained her attire.  
Only halfway through her first beer, Lexa was the one who first heard the sound of the cars. She immediately knew them to be police cars and the lights that followed proved her to be right. “Police!” she yelled to everyone in the close vicinity.  
These kids were common party goers and knew exactly how to respond to the threat of police. They all ran in the opposite direction of the police through the woods to where their cars were waiting on the opposite side of the small park.  
Luckily it hadn’t been a large party and there had only been one keg which Anya and Lexa had managed to roll in to bush with only slight difficulty.  
Just as it was hidden from sight, Clarke grabbed Lexa’s hand and pulled her in to the house. Barely two minutes had passed since they’d first registered the police cars coming down the street, but already the place was deserted. A few cups littered the Griffin’s backyard, but if the police never made it that far it wouldn’t be a problem.  
They heard the bell ring and the four remaining girls, Anya, Octavia, Clarke and Lexa exchanged frightened looks.  
“Go turn on music upstairs,” Lexa spoke directly to Octavia and Clarke, “I’m sober, I can deal with this.” She supposed it was a good thing that they’d showed up late, because by only drinking half a beer, Lexa really was sober, and even though Any had just about finished hers, she was as well.  
Grabbing an oatmeal raisin cookie off the counter and taking a bite of it, Lexa hustled to the front door. She opened it and feigned surprise when she saw the two uniformed officers standing on the front step.  
“Can I help you officers?” she asked innocently. Behind her, Anya holding a cookie of her own peeked out as if she too was confused by their presence.  
“We’ve gotten some reports about noise complaints and possible underage drinking,” the female officer explained.  
“I apologize officers, I can promise you while there’s no underage drinking going on here, we were probably being loud.” At that point Clarke had already started the music upstairs and Lexa pointed up to to reference it. “You see, I’m on the football team and my friends and I were just having some fun after celebrating the win. We were having a dance party and I didn’t realize how loud the music was.”  
“You’re Lexa Woods, aren’t you?” the male officer questioned with a smile.  
Lexa nodded, “Yes sir, Officer…” she looked down to read his name tag, “Officer Miller.’  
“My son, Nathan, he’s in your grade. He was at the game tonight and while I couldn’t be there, he told me all about it. He says thanks to you Polis High might make it to the state championships.”  
Lexa blushed on cue as if she was flattered by the boy’s admiration. “It’s a team sport and if we make it there, it will be because of our work as a team.”  
“Well I look forward to coming to some of the games later in the season,” Officer Miller continued, “I also hear from Nathan that you’re not a big partier as it is, and it does seem like you’re having some innocent fun,” she gestured to the cookies, “Just try and keep the music down a bit, okay?”  
“Will do Officer,” Lexa nodded before shutting the door as the officers left.  
As soon as Lexa turned around, she was assaulted with hugs from Octavia and Clarke and over their shoulders she could see Anya shaking her head mouthing “Whipped.”  
“That was amazing!” Octavia cooed.  
“You’re incredible,” Clarke nodded in agreement. “What do you say we actually do have that dance party you were talking about?”  
Lexa found herself nodding and following the cheerleaders up the stairs to where Lincoln was turning down the music. She didn’t know where Finn was, only briefly registering the fact that Clarke said he was away for the weekend visiting colleges. She lost herself dancing with Clarke…and Octavia, forgetting the fact that she hated to dance. Because around Clarke, she couldn’t hate anything.

 

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks, Clarke and Lexa actually acknowledged each other’s presence in school. They smiled at each other in the hallways and made small talk in the classes they shared. On the day of Homecoming, Clarke and Lexa were sitting in English class with a substitute teacher. Because they had a substitute, nobody was sitting in their assigned seats. Well, nobody except for Lexa. Anya wasn’t in English with her, so why would she bother changing her seat?  
“Are you excited for the game tonight?” asked a voice next to Lexa.  
Lexa turned in her seat and was surprised to find Clarke sitting next to her, and not with Monroe and Harper, the two other popular girls in the class. “Yeah, I don’t think it’ll be too tough. Homecoming games are usually scheduled against one of our easy opponents.”  
“Yeah, Finn was saying the same thing to me this morning, but I wasn’t sure if it was true or if he was just being cocky,” Clarke laughed back.  
Lexa could feel her stomach erupting with butterflies at the sound of the blonde’s laugh. It was hearty and honest. She couldn’t say it was pretty, but it was unique and swoon-worthy. “What about you?” Lexa asked, “Are you excited for Homecoming and the Homecoming dance? You know, being on the Homecoming Court and all.” Homecoming Court had been announced that Monday during morning announcements, and surprising no one, Clarke had made it along with Octavia, Maya, Harper and Echo while the boys to make it were Lincoln, Finn, Jasper, Wells and Nathan Miller.  
A smile grew on Clarke’s face at the mention of the dance. “I’m really excited,” she cooed. “Not because I’m on Homecoming Court, but I just love dances. I mean, I don’t even think I’ll win Homecoming Queen. I’m sure it’ll be Octavia.”  
“I voted for you,” the words tumbled out of Lexa’s mouth and before she had a chance to stop them from pouring out she continued, “And I’m sure you’ll win. You’re the smartest, nicest and prettiest girl in our grade.” Realizing what she’d just said, Lexa closed her mouth and felt her face growing red.  
“Well with that glowing recommendation I really don’t think I can be considered the nicest around here,” Clarke smiled genuinely back at Lexa. “Thank You.” While Lexa internally screamed at herself for being such a nob, she failed to notice that brown eyes had been meeting blue, with blue lingering longer than necessary for quite sometime. Finally, Clarke spoke again. “You’re coming to the dance, right?”  
Lexa knew she wasn’t imagining the hopeful look on Clarke’s face as she posed the question, but she couldn’t think about what it meant, it confused her. And in that confusion she responded falsely, “Of course.” She hadn’t planned on attending the dance. She and Anya were going to spend the night watching horror films. Or at least, that was the plan until Clarke had posed the question.  
Their substitute had started to try and settle the class down while they continued to speak. “I’m glad,” Clarke smiled, “I’ll see you there. After you win the game of course.”  
Lexa tried and failed to get the butterflies in her stomach to settle for the rest of the class period, but with her crush sitting right beside her, she was failing miserably. So after the bell rang, she quickly said goodbye to Clarke before frantically searching the halls for Anya and telling her about the change of plans, and that they would be attending the dance after all.

 

* * *

 

It was right as the buzzer went off to signify the end of the first half that Lexa noticed the the agitated look on Finn’s face, the look that explained why he hadn’t been playing his best during the first half. “Yo Collins, what’s up?” she asked him as they were running off the field to the sidelines. They would be announcing Homecoming King and Queen during half time and Lexa gathered Finn might be nervous about it.  
Finn slowed his jog and quickly looked around them to make sure there were no prying ears before he explained the reason behind his agitation. “This stays between you and me, okay Woods?” Finn spoke before Lexa nodded. “Okay, so I don’t know if you remember, but I was dating Raven Reyes all of last year, but she went away to college this year.” Lexa nodded, following the story she already knew, until Finn added information that changed it all for her. “Well we didn’t actually ever break up. We’re technically still together.”  
Lexa halted, her feet stuck on the field. Finn stopped as well and looked at her, waiting for her response. “What about Clarke?” she asked.  
“I really like Clarke, but I couldn’t break up with Raven for her,” he explained.  
Lexa was angry. Really angry. Not just for Clarke, but also for Raven. Neither girl deserved to be left in the dark about the situation. “So what are you going to do about it?” Lexa’s voice was laced with venom.  
Finn obviously was taken aback by Lexa’s anger. He hadn’t been expecting it. “Well actually I was wondering if you could help me. You’re friends with Clarke, right? I mean she talks about you all the time so I assume you are. After the game, do you think you can distract her while I go talk to Raven? I don’t want them seeing each other.”  
Lexa was so angry at Finn that she barely even processed the fact that he said that Clarke often talked about her. Instead, she was trying to focus on what the right course of action would be. “Are you telling them about each other?” Lexa asked.  
“Not unless it becomes necessary,” he shrugged. Coach Kane started yelling at Finn to hurry up, that all of Homecoming Court needed to meet at center field. “You won’t say anything, right Woods?”  
“Just go,” Lexa spat back, “I won’t say anything, because you’re going to.”  
Finn gave Lexa a nervous look before running to meet up with Wells and Lincoln, the other two football players on the Court.  
Clarke and Finn were crowned Homecoming Queen and King, surprising no one. And when Clarke leaned in to kiss Finn, he dodged it and went in for the hug. To anyone that didn’t know what was going on, the slight would never have been noticed. But Lexa knew exactly what was going on and it disgusted her.  
During the second half, Lexa was the bigger person and still passed the ball to Finn, but she wasn’t happy about it. They won the game, everyone cheered and quickly left the field to get ready for the dance that would be taking place starting in two hours.  
Anya came over to the Woods’ house and the two girls got ready together. Mr. Woods ordered pizza for the girls and took pictures of them in dresses that they’d borrowed from each other. Neither had had time to buy new dresses, so wearing one of the other’s was the closest they could get to wearing something they hadn’t before.  
After Lexa told Anya what Finn had said, she’d been equally upset. She told Lexa that she would have told Clarke right away, but understood why Lexa wanted Finn to tell her himself.  
Living right in town, it didn’t take long for Lexa and Anya to get to the high school gym. Not knowing whether they’d be invited back to an after party, Mr. Woods drove them to the dance. Lexa knew that some kids would have been embarrassed by having their parent drop them off at the dance, but she and her dad told each other everything and she was never embarrassed around him. In fact, Lexa had come out to him before anyone else, before even Anya.  
For the first hour or so, Anya and Lexa lingered around the punch table. There were some people dancing, but not very many. And certainly not enough for them to join the group. Soon though, the gym became more crowded as the kids who had gone to pre-parties arrived, somewhat intoxicated.  
“I know you’re looking for her,” Anya raised her eyebrows at Lexa, after Lexa looked dejected after noticing that Clarke wasn’t with Echo and the group of her friends who had just arrived.  
“I just thought she would have gotten here by now,” Lexa’s response was one of concern. After finishing yet another cup of punch, Lexa said, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”  
Anya nodded and let Lexa go. The brunette found her way to the bathroom, waited for girls who spent way too much time in there and peed before leaving. As she walked down the hallway, Lexa heard the sound of muffled cries. She wasn’t someone who did well with crying drunk girls, but the fact that she didn’t hear any other voice made Lexa curious. Whoever was crying was alone.  
Lexa found her way down the hallway and past the lockers. She saw a single leg extending past the lockers, clad in a bright blue heel and she could hear the sniffling from the who it belonged to. Lexa rounded her way around the lockers announcing her presence, “Are you okay?” Somehow, Lexa wasn’t entirely surprised to find Clarke on the floor. Her light blue dress stained with tears and her makeup was smudged, but it was Clarke. Seeing Clarke there, so distraught, Lexa immediately dropped to her knees beside the girl.  
“Lexa? What are you doing here?” Clarke asked after realizing who it was that had found her.  
“I uhh,” Lexa stuttered, “I heard you crying.”  
Clarke started to control her tears and wiped at her eyes. “God I bet I look like an ugly raccoon,” she half laughed as she saw the mascara and eyeliner coming off on her hands.  
“You could never look ugly,” Lexa admitted, quietly cursing her lack of a filter.  
Her comment, however, seemed to have a good effect on Clarke who managed to choke back another sob and smile slightly. “Well I’m glad it was you who found me, and not someone like Harper or Monroe.”  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lexa asked as she settled down next to the blonde. Clarke rested her head on Lexa’s shoulder and Lexa had a feeling she knew what had happened  
“Boys are stupid,” Clarke sighed.  
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lexa nodded.  
Clarke let out a soft laugh at Lexa’s response. It was no secret at Polis High that Lexa was a lesbian, she’d even dated a girl on the field hockey team, Costia, for a few months their sophomore year. “You’re funnier than I would have expected,” Clarke admitted.  
“That’s usually on accident,” Lexa admitted in response. “Finn’s a douche bag, by the way.”  
“It turns out he was cheating on me. Well, I don’t know if that’s the correct phrasing,” Clarke trailed off, “I guess technically I was the other woman. He never broke up with Raven in the first place.”  
“Guys suck,” Lexa repeated the phrase. “And any guy who would do something like that to a girl like you is an idiot.”  
Clarke lifted her head off Lexa’s shoulder and Lexa turned to face the girl. She hadn’t realized how close they were sitting, but inches from Clarke’s face, Lexa could smell a vague waft of alcohol coming from the blonde. “Finn sucks. My personal opinion is that guys only suck half the time,” Clarke declared.  
Lexa knew what she desperately wanted Clarke to mean by her statement, but was afraid to ask the question out loud. “So you’ve gone from guys sucking overall to only half the time?” Lexa asked with a small smile and an inquisitive look on her face.  
Clarke’s blue eyes were focused on Lexa, and Lexa could tell they were slightly dilated, either from the alcohol rushing through her system or from crying though, she wasn’t sure. They seemed to be staring at each other for several long moments before Clarke finally responded, but not with the answer Lexa had been expecting. In fact, far from it. “I know this is the alcohol talking, or maybe the fact that I’m pissed as fuck at my boyfriend, but I have to tell you something,” Clarke began, “I’ve had the biggest crush on you since I first heard there was a girl trying out for the football team summer before freshman year.”  
Lexa’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t help it. Never in a million years would she have expected popular, cheerleader, intelligent and genuine and supposedly straight Clarke Griffin to have a crush on her, Lexa. Standoffish, loner, sarcastic and bitter, Lexa.  
Clarke lifted a hand to physically shut Lexa’s jaw before continuing with a smile, “Even after you shut me down after I stood up to Murphy for you, I had a crush on you. I admired the way you never took anyone’s shit. You’ve always been so independent and so unafraid to be yourself. And of course it only helped the fact that you are insanely gorgeous.”  
“Clarke, are you sure you’re not on drugs instead of drunk?” Lexa asked, refusing to believe the words coming out of the mouth of the blonde.  
“I’m only barely tipsy Lexa, and I’m certainly not on drugs.”  
“B-but you’re straight,” Lexa stammered as she observed Clarke move slightly closer to her.  
“If I was straight, would I be doing this?” Clarke asked. And before Lexa could ask her what she was talking about, her question was answered. The blonde’s soft lips were on hers before she could even register the fact that Clarke had moved.  
Her hands seemed to move of their own volition, one finding its way in to soft blonde curls while the other rested on Clarke’s hip, above her dress. The world seemed to simultaneously both stop, and move at a million miles a minute. The gentle kiss lasted only moments before turning in to something more primal, with sucking and teeth and tongues clashing against one another.  
When they finally pulled away from each other, needing a moment to breathe, Lexa looked at Clarke with a mixed look of both admiration and confusion. “Well shit,” she finally spoke, unsure of what else to say.  
Clarke laughed at Lexa’s statement before pecking the brunette on the lips quickly. “Also, you should tell Anya that she wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to figure out if I was straight or not. She gave away your crush on me about a year ago.” At that, Lexa knew she immediately turned bright red and therefore turned away from Clarke. Clarke, however wouldn’t let her look away and placed a hand on either side of her reddening face. “That’s a good thing Lexa. Otherwise I sure as hell wouldn’t have the guts to kiss you like I just did.”  
“What about Finn?” Lexa asked.  
At that, Clarke faltered, “I…I don’t know what to do about him. He’s a dick, but I don’t know. Right now all I know is that I’m mad as hell at him and that I want to keep kissing you.”  
“I think we can figure out a way to work that one out,” Lexa responded with a smile before leaning in to kiss Clarke again.

 

* * *

 

Over the following few weeks, Clarke and Lexa met in bathrooms during classes, in their cars after their respective practices and at Lexa’s house on the weekends. They would spend hours alternating between making out and just talking to each other, getting to know one another for real for the first time, despite the years they’d spent at school together.  
Nobody knew about their relationship, if you could even call it that, except for Anya and Mr. Woods, who found out quite accidentally when he didn’t knock on Lexa’s door before entering to ask if the girls wanted pizza. Luckily, both girls had been clothed as they hadn’t really progressed past that, but it was awkward nevertheless.  
Lexa tried to convince herself that she didn’t care that Clarke was officially dating Finn still, and that the Homecoming King and Queen pretended like everything was okay around their friends and at their lunch table. She even told Clarke she was okay with it, because Clarke said it was only temporary, and that she was working on finding a way to be okay with coming out to her friends. Lexa tried to tell herself it was okay and that Clarke canceling on her on a Friday night to go on a date with Finn didn’t hurt, but really she knew that it did.  
It was late November and the morning of the final football game of the season. It was the state championships and Lexa was nervous as hell to be playing the Mount Weather Men, or the Mountain Men as they were colloquially called. She’d texted Clarke to meet her in the science wing bathroom during second period, hoping that a quality make out session would calm her nerves. And at first, it seemed to be working, until she noticed the hickey on Clarke’s neck, the one she knew she didn’t put there.  
The pause that came from her realization that Finn must have put it there caused Clarke to pull away, knowing what Lexa was thinking. Clarke always knew when Lexa was thinking about Finn. “I told him not to, but he didn’t listen. I really didn’t want you to see it,” Clarke tried to apologize as she pulled at the neck of her sweater, trying in vain to cover the bruise.  
Lexa and Clarke had been seeing each other in secret for nearly two months and nothing seemed to have changed. Clarke was still insisting she wasn’t ready to come out yet, and nor was she ready to deal with the repercussions that would come from breaking up with Finn. Just seeing the hickey caused chips in Lexa’s heart, and those moments she allowed herself to fully think about the situation caused full on breaks. And standing there in the science wing bathroom, Lexa finally realized that she couldn’t do it any longer. So she told Clarke, “I can’t do this anymore Clarke. It’s not that I want to force you out of the closet when you aren’t ready, it’s just that I can’t be your dirty little secret side piece while you’re with someone else. It’s not fair to me.”  
“You’re not a dirty sidepiece,” Clarke gasped.  
“Maybe not, but it’s what I feel like I am,” the brunette admitted, “And I don’t think my heart can handle it anymore. Even just thinking about you and Finn hurts to the point where I want to throw up.” Lexa took several steps away from the blonde.  
“I’ll make sure he stops with the hickeys, please Lexa, I can’t lose you. I promise to try harder at this,” Clarke pleaded.  
And Lexa would have stayed. She would have fallen for the pleading behind those brilliant blue eyes, but the words Clarke spoke were not the ones Lexa wanted. Lexa would have been okay keeping their relationship secret if it meant they could actually be in one. An honest relationship anyway, and Clarke’s only relationship. All Clarke would have had to do was break up with Finn, but she didn’t offer that. And the fact that Clarke didn’t see that was all Lexa wanted broke her.  
The brunette turned before Clarke could see the tears starting to form in her green eyes, and before she could see the ones forming in Clarke’s blue ones.  
By the end of the first half of the game, the Polis Grounders were losing. It wasn’t by much, but they weren’t playing at their strongest. Lexa was admittedly distracted and Coach Gustus called her out on it.  
“Look, I know it’s stressful. For most of you seniors, this is the last football game of your life, but if there’s anything bothering you that’s not football related, you need to leave it here, because it doesn’t belong on the field,” Gustus spoke. They all nodded their understanding.  
Lexa could tell she wasn’t the only one without their head in the game. Both Wells and Finn seemed upset or angry about something, but she didn’t bother to dwell on them, particularly not Finn. In fact, she’d spent the whole first half of the game specifically not passing to Finn and she gathered that’s what he was angry about.  
“And Woods,” Gustus turned to address the sole girl on the team, “Pass the damn ball unless you know you’ve got the perfect run, got it?”  
Lexa nodded her assent and they all donned their helmets to finish off the game. Gustus was right. She needed to leave everything Clarke on the sidelines. She could see the blonde entertaining the crowd with a new cheer, one she’d made Clarke preform for just her the week before, but beyond the cheerleaders, she could also see her dad giving her a double thumbs up. She wanted to win the game, not just for herself, her school and her team, but for her dad. Her dad had raised her alone after her mom died in a car accident when she was four, and he’d always encouraged her to do the best she could at everything she did, and by dwelling on Clarke during the game she wasn’t giving her all.  
For the entirety of the second half, Lexa didn’t once think about the blonde and the fact that she might be in love with her. Instead, she thought about how much she loved playing football and how much she wanted to crush the Mountain Men.  
It wasn’t long before they were making a come back, but the Mountain Men were still playing strong. With only seconds left on the clock, the Grounders had time for only one more play and would need to score a touchdown in order to win. Lexa was immediately brought back to the first game of the season and drew parallels between the games. Monty hiked the ball to Lexa and she searched for a pass. She saw Finn open. He was barely open, but he was in the end zone. She quickly glanced to her right and saw an open pathway.  
She knew there was a good chance Finn would catch the ball, but the Mountain Men defense had intercepted a similar pass earlier in the game. She spent the entire second half passing and she knew the defense was expecting it. Time was running out and Lexa made her decision. She quickly sprinted through the open path and ran for the end zone. Wells tackled a defender feet to her left and she ran in to the end zone, throwing down the ball, just as the buzzer sounded.  
The stands. Went. Wild. They’d won. The Polis High Grounders had won the state championships for the first time in five years. Lexa’s teammates all started running towards her and the cheerleaders followed and Lexa removed her helmet tossing it on the ground.  
Lexa’s eyes quickly found the blonde she cared about. Clarke was running towards them, and Finn opened his arms to her. Lexa watched as Clarke’s gaze shifted from Finn to her, and before she knew it, Clarke was crashing in to her. The surprise of collision causing Lexa to fall, letting Clarke fall right on top of her.  
“I really should have thought that one through,” Clarke laughed.  
“Clarke, what are you doing?” Lexa asked, not yet bothering to try and stand up.  
“I broke up with Finn Lexa,” Clarke explained, “I told him everything right after you left me this morning. I broke up with him because I can’t not be with you anymore and I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”  
Lexa adjusted herself as Clarke sat back and started to stand up. “What?” Lexa asked, stunned.  
Clark finished standing up before extending a hand to Lexa to help her up. Cheering was going on all around them, but neither girl could focus on anyone other than the other girl. “I think I’m falling in love with you Lexa Woods, and I want nothing more than to find out if we can do this.”  
Lexa saw Clarke’s smile, but she also saw the nerves behind the smile. She saw the way Clarke started to fiddle with her hands and adjust herself to make herself smaller. Even with all the commotion around them, Lexa could hear the honesty in the blonde’s words. “I think I might be falling in love with you too,” the words spilled out. And for once, she didn’t mind the word vomit. Especially when it resulted in a large smile spreading across Clarke’s face.  
Lexa would have been content with just the smile, but what came next made her heart soar and made it worth it even more. Clarke quickly closed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around Lexa and kissed her confidently.  
She heard a mix of cheers and gasps around them, and when Clarke pulled away, Lexa didn’t let her get very far. She returned the confidence by grabbing Clarke’s hand and intertwining their fingers together. She knew that in a moment Clarke would realize that she came out in the most obvious of ways and in front of the entire school and everyone’s parents and that she would need someone there to support her. And that’s where Lexa would be  
Later that night, Lexa would finally learn each and every nook and cranny of Clarke’s body and which spots made her coo with pleasure, but in that moment, the feeling of their intertwined fingers and the knowledge that it was only them that mattered, was all that mattered to Lexa.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! I'm working on a multi-chap au fic right now about Clexa as parents, meeting at a lake, but I'd love to hear more ideas you all have! feel free to send me requests either below in the comment section or at my tumblr (madgirlbackhome.tumblr.com)
> 
> let me know what you all thought of this one, comments and thoughts are greatly encouraged and appreciated!


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